Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands First Look

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Like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives.

By Hilary Goldstein

Seven years passed between the events of the acclaimed Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time and its sequel The Warrior Within. The events of those seven years, when the Prince went from a happy-go-lucky charmer to a hardened metal head, are unknown -- until now. The Forgotten Sands offers fans a glimpse at what happened to the Prince in those lost years.

The Forgotten Sands kicks off with the Prince arriving at his brother Malik's palace, which is under siege. The opening scenes of a large scale battle and the destruction of a gorgeous palace are reminiscent of the opening for The Sands of Time. Under duress, Malik makes a critical error. He releases an ancient sand army to take on his enemies, but that turns all of the citizens into sand statues. And, wouldn't you guess it, the sand army is evil.

Good thing the Prince is used to battling supernatural forces. Along with superior sword-fighting skills, the Prince can rewind time in short bursts, allowing him to avoid death. Each use of the rewind function depletes one of the blue orbs at the top of the screen, just like in The Sands of Time. Use them all up and death becomes a very real thing.

Visually, the new POP is halfway between the Arabian fantasy look of The Sands of Time and the dark and harder edged look of The Warrior Within. The Forgotten Sands is timed to release with the Prince of Persia feature film in May, but it still has a ways to go in terms of its animations and overall polish. The game currently looks a little rough, especially compared to the quality the Prince series has offered over the past decade. Fortunately, the gameplay is looking solid.

Combat is a big part of The Forgotten Sands and is no longer a one-on-one affair as in 2008's Prince of Persia. For the new game, the Prince engages in large-scale battles. Early on, you must take out 10 enemies who swarm you. That's a small battle. You will battle upwards of 50 enemies at time before vanquishing the sand army. Melee combat is a combo-heavy affair, but you can steer the Prince from one enemy to the next so that a five-hit combo can take out close to a half-dozen sand demons. Bosses come big and mean and must be beaten with skill as there are no quick time events.

The new POP's combat is fast-paced action with no blocking. If you want to avoid getting hit, you'll need to roll dodge out of the way or strike first. You use the same sword throughout the game, but every time you get an enemy's sand on the blade, you earn experience points (XP) that can be used to purchase upgrades. Increase your life bar, unlock new moves and increase your sword's damage through these upgrades. You can also purchase powers for use in combat. Shield knocks back enemies that have surrounded the Prince. This upgrades to Tornado, which creates a whirling dervish to throw enemies around. Every combat power can be improved in this way.

Along with these smaller combat powers, the Prince is gifted with new magic courtesy of a Djinn (AKA Genie) named Razia. These are used primarily for acrobatic feats. And I must say that as a Prince fan the acrobatics got me pretty excited. Even in the earliest levels in the palace, it's clear that this could be something very special.

The magic powers you earn are related to the elements, with the first allowing you to temporarily solidify water. They spared no expense when building this palace. It's definitely a luxury accommodation, complete with plenty of artificial waterfalls and fountains. One of the simpler acrobatic moves has you solidify a waterfall, then run across it (holding a button to do so), leaping off the wall and unfreezing the water to pass through another waterfall so you can land on a ledge. Free the water shooting out of a spout on the wall and it becomes your standard pole to swing on. As the acrobatic sequences get more complex, you'll need to start using your head to figure out how and when to use the water power to get to new places.

Things get more challenging as you unlock new combat powers that link in with acrobatic tests of skill. Eventually you'll need to combine water magic with combat powers to get past obstacles. Run up a solidified wall of water and then use the dash power to zip across a gap and attack an enemy on the next platform. As new magic opens up, including the power over air, earth and fire, the acrobatic challenges should become even greater. For fans eager to test themselves in the same way they did The Sands of Time, the new Prince of Persia title should serve them well.

The Forgotten Sands isn't restricted to Malik's palace. You'll visit some other areas, including an area of respite. The Magic Fountain has no enemies, but is a mystical realm where you interact with Razia and gain new magic. What other areas might exist beyond the palace and this fountain haven't been revealed yet, but perhaps we'll see them soon.